Wash. Congressman Says Enough Republicans Would Side With Dems to End Shutdown

It’s far beyond anyone to truly understand the insanity taking place in Washington right now, but one congressman from our area says enough House Republicans would vote for a “clean” budget that would re-open the federal government without touching Obamacare.

Related Content

Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, writes on Facebook that there “are enough Republicans who will join Democrats to support a clean bill to restart the government.” However, House leadership refuses to put such a bill up for a vote.

“But Republican leaders aren’t willing to go against the wishes of the hardline conservatives in their party,” he writes. So, no

Curious about his statement, the Seattle Times called around to Republican U.S. reps from Washington to see if they would vote on a budget bill that didn’t touch the Affordable Care Act. They weren’t talking.

But elsewhere, they are sticking to their guns. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, one of the highest ranking members of congress, says on her own Facebook page that the Senate needs to come to the “come to the table and negotiate with us.” That is basically Republican code for continuing the debate over Obamacare. As McMorris Rodgers noted yesterday: “This debate is about fairness -- and if the American people have to bear the burden of Obamacare, so too should their representatives in Congress.”

The Democratic Senate has said it’s not talking about Obamacare. Senate Leader Harry Reid perhaps put it best: “I need to remind everyone that Obamacare is THE LAW and it has been found CONSTITUTIONAL. We are not re-litigating this.”

From Larsen: “Spending is not an issue here. The Senate has already accepted the House level of spending, even though it’s significantly lower than what their budget calls for. So the only reason the government is shut down is because Republicans are saying they’ll only reopen it if we kill Obamacare first.”